Mail-transporting device.



B. W. LAMB.

MAIL TRANSPORTING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED OCT-.19, 1912.

1,064,91 9. Y Patented June 17, 1913.

BEN W. LAMB, OF ADOLPI-IUS, KENTUCKY.

MAIL-TRANSPORTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 17, 1913.

Application filed October 19, 1912. Serial No. 726,777.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BEN W. LAMB, a citizen of the United States, residing at Adolphus, in the county of Allen and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in .h lail-Transporting Devices, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to elevated carriers of that character usually employed upon rural mail routes, the invention having for its primary object to produce such a device which is simple in construction, may therefore be manufactured at small cost and is highly convenient and serviceable in practical use.

A further object of the invention is to produce a device for the above purpose embodying an elevated track, a mail carrier to travel upon said track, means for moving the carrier, and braking means controlled by the carrier to limit the movement thereof upon the track.

With the above and other objects in View as will become apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions, combinations and arrangements of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mail transporting device embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a top plan view; and Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 5, 6 and 7 designate a series of posts arranged in line between a roadway and a point adjacent to the door of a residence upon the mail route, the post 7 being located between the end posts 5 and 6.

Upon the upper end of the post 5 which is disposed adjacent to the house, a peripherally grooved wheel 8 is journaled upon a stud shaft 9 fixed in Said post. A similar wheel 10 is also journaled upon a shaft 11 mounted in the upper end of the other end post 6. The wheel 8 carries a smaller wheel 12 arranged upon one side of said larger wheel and also provided with a peripheral groove to receive a driving belt 13. This driving belt extends around a lower wheel 14: mounted upon a stud shaft 15 fixed in the post 5. The wheels 8 and 10 are traversed by means of an endless belt 16, the upper and lower stretches of which are supported in the guides 17 mounted upon the central perpendicular post 7.

A track bar 18 is arranged in parallel relation to the upper and lower stretches of the belt 16 and is supported at its center by means of an arm 19 fixed to the post 7. The ends of this track bar are free and are adapted to be depressed under the weight of the mail box 20 which moves thereon for a purpose which will be later explained. This mail box is provided in its top with a bolt 21 loosely mounted therein and having an eye on its upper end to receive a hook carried by the hanger 22 upon the upper end of which the track wheels 23 are arranged for movement upon the bar 18. The hanger or frame in which the wheels 23 are mounted is connected by means of a flexible element 24: to the upper stretch of the endless belt 16.

Upon one side of the large belt wheel 10 a small wheel 25 is fixed, said wheel being peripherally faced with leather or other friction material indicated at 26.

For the operation of the device, the Wheel 14 is provided with a suitable crank 27 by means of which said wheel may be turned and motion transmitted through the medium of the belt 18 and the wheel 12 to the large belt wheel 8. Through the medium of this latter wheel, the belt 16 is moved in either direction to move the mail box 20 inwardly or outwardly upon the track bar 18. This mail box and its contents are of such weight that when moved upon either end of the track bar 18, they will bow or bend the end of said bar downwardly into engagement with the driving belt 18 or the friction face 26 of the wheel 25, as the case may be. In either instance it will be apparent that the speed of the traveling box 20 will be gradually checked so that the same will not forcibly contact with the Wheels 8 or 10, thereby obviating liability of injury to said wheels or thebox.

From reference to Fig. 3, it will be noted that the track bar 18 is disposed out of the vertical plane of the upper stretch of the belt 16 to which the box 20 is connected through the medium of the flexible connection 2 1. Thus it Will be manifest that this connection will obviate liability of the box carrier leaving the track 18 by the swaying movement of the mail box, the hanger 22 depending upon the opposite or outer side of the track bar 18 so that there will be no interference of the supporting arm 19 for the track with said hanger.

From the foregoing it is believed that the construction and manner of operation of my improved mail transporting device will be clearly apparent.

The invention is simple in its construction, and highly efficient and convenient in practical use as it permits the patron to obtain his mail in inclement weather without leaving his residence. The box may be moved to the inner or outer ends of the carrying belt 16 by simply giving the lower wheel 14 a few turns until the same attains a sufiicient momentum to move the mail box the required distance. The automatic application of the brake by the weight of the box insures a high degree of durability and a long period of usefulness for the device.

While I have shown and described the preferred form and arrangement of the several elements, it will be obvious that the invention is susceptible of considerable modification without departing from the essential features or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a transporting device, an elevated track supported at its center, a carrier to travel upon said track, means for moving said carrier including spaced wheels and an endless belt connecting the same, a connection between the carrier and one stretch of said belt, and means to be engaged b the free ends of the track under the weig t of the carrier when disposed thereon to limit the movement of said carrier in either direction.

2. In a transporting device, a centrally supported elevated track, a carrier mounted for movement on said track, spaced wheels and an endless belt connecting the same, a flexible connection between the carrier and one stretch of said belt, smaller wheels carried by said belt wheels, a driving belt extending around one of said smaller wheels, and a friction peripheral face on the other of said small wheels, the ends of said track bar being forced into engagement with the driving belt and the friction face of said latter wheel by the weight of the carrier to check the movement of the carrier in either direction.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses. BEN IV. LAMB. Witnesses:

FORDIE MAYHEW, DASIA MOELROY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

